How to create a seasonal home
Colour analysis helps people determine whether they’re best suited to warm autumn tones, cool winter hues, or the brightness of spring and summer palettes. When similar thinking sneaks into interiors, how do you discover your personal colour ‘season’?
Christchurch colour analyst and stylist Abby Button says the principles behind colour analysis translate surprisingly well from wardrobe to walls.
“The first step in colour analysis is identifying whether someone has warm or cool undertones,” Abby says. “That’s also a really useful starting point when deciding the tones you want to use in your home.”
Rather than beginning with a paint chart, Abby, founder of Abby Button Styling, encourages homeowners to start with what they already love. Architectural details, your favourite pieces of furniture, or even an inherited rug can become the anchor for an entire palette.
“In my own renovation, one of the things I loved most about the original house was the wooden panelling in the living room,” she says. “It’s very warm, so I built a warm colour palette around it. If you work within the same toned palette, every colour will naturally work well alongside it.”
That philosophy is echoed in the newly released Dulux 2026 colour forecast. The Evoke palette, designed with the cooler months in mind, centres around soft beige, burnt orange, warm golds and dramatic, earthy tones that create a sense of depth and nostalgia. According to Dulux colour and design specialist Davina Harper, the palette is intended to foster “a cocooning atmosphere with a sense of comfort, reflection and retreat.”
The shift reflects a broader movement in interiors away from purely neutral homes and toward colour that feels more personal and expressive, something Abby sees regularly in her work.
“When I start a colour analysis with a client, I ask them to pick three colours they would wear for the rest of their life,” she says. “About 80 per cent of the time they instinctively choose colours that sit within their seasonal palette. We’re often naturally drawn to shades that suit us.”
Our homes, it seems, may follow a similar instinct. “Much like our wardrobes, we tend to gravitate toward certain tones in our interiors,” she says. Yet Abby encourages people to use their home as a place to experiment with colour. “If you love orange but it doesn’t make you shine, get a cushion in it,” she laughs. “Your home is a great place to play with colours you adore but wouldn’t necessarily wear.”
Seasonal style
Seasonal palettes can translate beautifully into interiors and become an extension of your personal style. In personal colour analysis, every hue exists within each seasonal palette. The difference lies in tone, depth and intensity. The same principle works at home: once you settle on a colour family, it becomes easier to mix colours confidently without everything competing for attention.
“The thing I love most about seasonal colour is that all the colours within the palette look amazing together,” Abby says. “When you style your home within the same colour family, everything flows naturally.”
For her own home renovation, she’s leaning into warm-toned spring and autumn shades throughout, creating a layered but calming effect. “I want the house to feel colourful, but still calm,” she says. “By sticking to warm tones, I know the colours will work together rather than fighting each other.”
Perhaps that’s the real appeal of bringing colour seasons into the home. Much like dressing within a palette that flatters you, designing within a consistent colour family simplifies the entire process. When tones share the same undertone, colours layer naturally rather than competing, creating interiors that feel cohesive, confident and unmistakably personal.
